The No. 8 LSU Tigers take on the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines tonight at 6:10pm at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.
The Tigers are playing their best ball of the season coming off a last second loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament, and a clean win over St. Bonaventure in round one of March Madness.
People that don’t follow LSU basketball closely may see the Tigers as an inconsistent unit when it comes to rebounding and their ability to effectively defend.
However, in recent weeks LSU has been getting it done on both ends of the floor. Fine tuning their play in areas such as free throw percentage and defending.
If LSU’s “Big Four” consisting of Trendon Watford, Cam Thomas, Javonte Smart and Darius Days can limit the mistakes they make tonight and play as a cohesive unit like they have proven to be capable of, the Wolverines will have to play a near perfect game to secure a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
By the way, Thomas has been hot. He’s coming off of a historical performance against the Bonnies, scoring a whopping 27 points in his NCAA Tournament debut-second to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s 33 point game back in 1989.
Tiger nation needs Thomas to show out again tonight.
The Tigers like to start fast. They’ll most likely have a steady lead through the first half, but will be challenged by the physicality of the Michigan team come the final stretch of the game.
In order for LSU to win, they’ll need to stay focused and aggressive in the back half of the game, while controlling their fouls. The back half is when Michigan will apply the pressure, and the Tigers can’t afford for them to rack up the free points.
Prediction: Tigers win 76-73 over the Wolverines.